Chinatown
Chinatown, known before the war as the Chinatown-International District, is a community in Seattle that has stubbornly hung on to its cultural and ethnic heritage for the last two centuries. Chinatown is also an important place for caravans in Seattle and the operating center of the Oriental Caravan Company. History The history of Seattle's Chinatown begins to the late 19th century with the arrival of Chinese immigrants in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle's early Chinese population was victimized frequently but eventually stabilized into a real community with the run of the century. From there, the community prospered and progressively gained other ethnic groups nearby, such as Japanese and Filipinos. This community retained its integrity through the 20th century, though the internment of Japanese-American civilians during WWII shook it up a bit resulting in many Japanese businesses and historic buildings closing. The Chinatown-International District was officially created in 1999. The 21st century proved to be the biggest challenge to Seattle's Chinatown, especially with flared relations with China as the Resource Wars began. The United States's unwillingness to export oil to China leading to a breakdown in talks between the two countries. This crisis led to the Sino-American War, which had an obvious negative effect on the Chinatown in Seattle. While numerous Chinese-Americans were removed from Chinatown over years, new immigrants came to replace them, displaced from areas affected in the Sino-American War from places like Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. These new immigrants tended to be more patriotic while older residents were more skeptical of the U.S. government. As the 2070s winded down, conditions within Chinatown also deteriorated. Relations between the area's Asian and non-Asian residents were understandably strained as the Sino-American War wore on. The U.S. government had corralled much of the local Chinese-American population into Seattle’s Chinatown, which only went to further tensions. Two-thirds of Chinatown’s population was Asian by late 2077, twice what it had been the year before. Riots began breaking out in September 2077 and continued until the bombs dropped. The Great War came as little surprise to many in Chinatown. The community had collectively prepared for the nuclear war and survived in various places that served as fallout shelters. The residents of Chinatown however were stricken with another altercation soon after bombs dropped: Chinese Communist infiltrators emerged from the ranks of their friends and family to take control armed with weapons such as Chinese assault rifles and Chinese pistols. Some Chinatown residents went along with the infiltrators while the overwhelming majority revolted against the communists, especially the non-Chinese people within the community who feared being 'purged'. It was a brief bloody struggle, and the Asian Americans triumphed over the Chinese communist infiltrators. Only a couple of other people in Seattle knew of this, but even to them it mattered relatively little. The residents of Chinatown did benefit somewhat in that they could loot the Chinese weapons and use them in future generations. That helped Chinatown to survive for the next couple of months. The arrival of Edgar Brent in Seattle came in early 2078, and he brought some changes to Chinatown. Colonel Edgar divided the remaining survivor settlements in Seattle into their own little districts, further stratifying the divide between Chinatown and other places in the area. Chinatown did benefit though from the extra protection and supplies such as RadAway. There was tension between the U.S. Army soldiers in Seattle and Chinatown, but there was no violence. That was even with Colonel Edgar's contact with the New Order. The trouble only really came with the arrival of Skull-Taker about a year later. Skull-Taker was created because of the actions of the New Order in restricting traffic into Seattle, and the cannibal warlord spared no one in the ruined city. He first smashed through the barricades that protected Seattle and burned dozens of settlements, including Chinatown. Luckily, many people in Chinatown managed to survive the onslaught of cannibals in the winter of 2079. One unlikely hero who emerged at this time was Frank Zhang, a former dockworker who took the initiative to fight the cannibals. Zhang was eventually killed in early 2080, his actions lived on in the memories of the residents of Chinatown as a hero of the community. People like Frank Zhang helped Chinatown survive the dark night Skull-Taker brought. The conclusion of Skull-Taker's reign in Seattle was seen for Chinatown in the Battle of the Chinatown Gate, where the locals cleared out what was left of the cannibals around. The cannibals had been hanging around Chinatown looking for easy prey and vandalizing the Chinatown Gate. Enraged by the cannibals' predation and disrespect, the residents of Chinatown rose up and threw the last of the killers out. The community triumphing over the cannibals on January 20, 2080, is now celebrated every year as Victory Day. The next couple of years were very rough, but Chinatown survived those dark early days. One reason for that was the discovery of The Tongmeng and its Chinese crew, who managed to integrate into Chinatown quite effectively. Even the ghouls within the crew were accepted into the community. There some culture clash between the two, but the fight to survive was the most important thing for the community. One stumbling block to Chinatown’s survival was the New Order who began attacking the settlement around 2092. That began a cycle of violence that would go on for more than a century. Regardless of the New Order's attacks, Chinatown managed to hang on somehow. Survivors recolonized ruined buildings within the old Chinatown-International District and fiercely rebuffed any attempt at settlement by outsiders. Things changed with the destruction of The Tongmeng in 2128. The New Order and its Commander Hunter had been planning on destroying the ship for nearly ten years, and its final destruction was the sum of years of planning. That action stunned many in Chinatown and displayed the reality of their situation: there was a white supremacist group out there that wanted to destroy their community down to the last man. That was when it really sunk in. As Chinatown continued to rebuild its infrastructure, the community also began to beef up its defenses. That started with a major defensive wall that was built in 2131. Chinatown was humiliated soon afterwards by the New Order who blew up a large portion of the wall. That seemingly destroyed Chinatown's resolve to fight for nearly a generation and led to a feeling of shame by much of the community. The nominal leader of Chinatown then, named Wei, preached avoidance of the New Order at all costs and cultivated the settlement's businesses. The growth helped grow Chinatown, but that did not help the fact that raiders and the New Order sacked the settlement every month or so. The humiliation suffered at that time enraged the youth of Chinatown, and they began marshaling themselves to prevent such humiliation in the future. In the late 2140s, Chinatown created the first of the its militias to fight off the community's enemies. The first Chinatown militias were formally established to fight the New Order specifically, using a mix of volunteers and mercenaries. Wei was unsure of whether to condemn the formation of these militias but ultimately did not stop them. The Chinatown militias first clashes with the New Order in 2148 and were soundly defeated. A string of battles in late 2140s and early 2150s were mostly defeats for the Chinatown militias but began taking a toll on the New Order. By 2153, the New Order stopped facing the Chinatown militias in pitched battles and primarily began to use snipers and booby traps against them while focusing elsewhere. That took the pressure off Chinatown to defend its border but still instilled a defiant warrior spirit that would quickly displace Wei’s strictly business approach. The late 2100s were a time of slowly growth for Chinatown as the community managed to finally thrive in the absence of the New Order’s constant attacks. Trade between Chinatown and other settlements boomed while outside caravaners even managed to move into the community. That caused some controversy and eventually led to the first of the “culture laws”. Another development during that time was Chinatown’s relation with Pantheon Radio, whose broadcast range had recently expanded into range of Seattle. Sharing a common enemy in the New Order’s white supremacist ideology, Chinatown and Pantheon Radio’s reporters cooperated on multiple occasions. Their cooperation often ended in cooperation but is remembered fondly in the context of those dark times. Chinatown ended it’s newfound aggressive stance in the 2160s and assumed a defensive position until about the 2210s when the New Order was displaced from Martha's Gulch. Sensing weakness, another hero emerged in this time to meet the needs of the community: General Lincoln. General Lincoln, named for a pre-War American legend, commanded the the militia known as the Monster Masks and masterminded a three decade long fight beginning in 2219 to finally put the New Order in the ground. Chinatown fully supported this war and continued to thrive despite essentially beaing at war. Unpredictable factors such as Aldrich Whitney, the founding of Emerald City, and super mutants complicated Lincoln’s plans, but he eventually succeeded after much bloodshed and loss. Things particularly looked bad after Chinatown was handed a heavy loss right outside its walls in 2241 but the community prevailed. General Lincoln considerable political acumen when assembling the anti-New Order coalition in 2247. The coalition lasted for less than a year but would serve as a forerunner to the later Treaty of Capitol Hill. Chiantown’s History since the defeat of the New Order has been rather peaceful. No raiders or large militarized groups dare attack a settlements now so large and fortified. However, the residents of Chinatown still feel unsafe and have felt more and more unsafe ever since word of the Oregon Brushfire Wars came north. That and fears of demographic upheaval in Chinatown were what led to a rash of new culture laws in 2260s and a strengthening of the militias. The Treaty of Capitol Hill, signed in 2270 to try to assert to to NCR that Seattle “did not need them” only proved to make the residents of Chinatown more paranoid about being “de-cultured”. The current trend in Chinatown of growth in the caravan and chem businesses exasperate the problem, driving a wedge in the community between those open to outsiders and those who fear outside influence. Who will win this battle of the wills is to be seen, but right now, the traditionalists have the edge and the numbers. Government Chinatown's government is minimal at best, one of the town's qualities taken more from America and less from their ancestral homelands in Asia. The economy allows for free trade and very little is regulated, even weapons and chems. The community is headed by a council that is made up of the most prominent people with no mayor in charge (though the overall leader of the Chinatown militias have somewhat acted in that role on occasion). The only important function of Chinatown's government besides protection is enforcing the ban on the settlement of outsiders within their community. This is down through various "culture laws" outlawing outsiders owning property within Chinatown and actively encouraging rationalization of those who mix with outsiders. The Chinatown militias, directly drawn from American history, are used to enforce these culture laws, often with extreme brutality. Economy The economy of Chinatown is nowadays mostly fueled by caravans, though the community has proved itself to be somewhat self-sufficient. At first, Chinatown was mostly made up scavengers who raked the ruins of Seattle and were very vulnerable to attacks from the New Order. As Chinatown’s residents circled the wagons, established the Chinatown militias, and became even more insular, the town relies more on small industries such as limited manufacturing and crafts. That was until the caravans started coming through in the 2200s. It turned out there was quite a market for goods from Chinatown in other parts of Cascadia and even NCR, benefiting the community greatly. This however led to a tightening of culture laws as the residents of Chinatown began to feel threatened by the influx of caravaners. Today, caravans remain a major source of revenue in Chinatown with the town now even having its own caravan, the Oriental Caravan Company. Culture Culture is very important to the people of Chinatown for obvious reasons. The diverse but also insular culture of Chinatown has kept the community safe over the last two centuries. Chinatown’s residents are mainly of Chinese and Japanese origins, though Filipinos, Koreans, and Vietnamese are also present. These different communities jealously hold onto what they see as “their” cultures, which is in actuality a mix of their original home cultures and their pre-War American host culture. This results in situations like almost all of the residents of Chinatown speaking English but maintaining the languages of their home cultures among a few individuals for ceremonial purposes. Ethnic food is also a prominent feature in Chinatown, though the residents have their own wasteland twists to their ancestors’ recipes as many of the pre-War ingredients are now not present. An understood but not often discussed part of Chinatown’s culture is its supreme role in the community over business and individual wants. The community is determined to maintain its cultural identity after being preyed upon by the likes of the pre-War government, Chinese revolutionaries, Skull-Taker, raiders, and the New Order. This cultural supremacy has caused increasing friction in recent years as Seattle has become more connected, leading to Chinatown clamping down even harder on perceived threats to their cultural integrity. Relations Badlanders Chinatown has bad recent history with the Badlanders with the arrival of the Alaska Pack in Seattle. The Badlanders have never directly attacked, but the tribals have attacked the Oriental Caravan Company before as well as other Chinatown residents. That has built up significant hatred in Chinatown for Badlanders, with none (even those not in the Alaska Pack) allowed in Chinatown. In fact, masks are also outlawed in Chinatown because of Badlanders. Capitol Hill The trade between Capitol Hill and Chinatown has been going on ever since the Great War. The Geigers are a peculiar people, but they have made reliable trading partners. That has included food and chems in the past, but in recent years, Chinatown's own chem trade has overwhelmed Capitol Hill's. Also, the two settlements have competing caravan houses who regularly jockey with each other for primacy. Nonetheless, the two settlements retain cordial relations due to past alliances and the more recent Treaty of Capitol Hill. Since the Geigers are not expansionist or very entrepreneurial, Chinatown's more xenophobic residents do not see Capitol Hill as a threat at all. Emerald City After emerging from Vault 72, the vaults dwellers in Seattle were still initially under the thrall of their mechanical overseer. That initial settlement isolated itself from all outsiders until the overseer deemed the residents "ready for the outside". However, even before the vault officially "opened", people met adventurous vault dwellers from Vault 72 who had escaped. After the vault dwellers managed to overpower the old overseer, relations were opened with the outside and the two settlements traded like normal. Emerald City and Chinatown have had amicable relations with each other ever since first contact which has only strengthened since the Treaty of Capitol Hill. However, some of Chinatown's residents fear the Emerald City's more entrepreneurial residents, seeing them as an existential threat to the community's cultural integrity. Free Northwestern Army A more recent arrival to Seattle, the Free Northwestern Army emerged first in Chinatown as the dream of one man in a single room of the Panama Hotel: Chen Song. At first, it was simply an idea for Song who wanted a sort of "new democracy" to be restored to the wasteland. He saw NCR and the FNA as a model for this "new democracy". Chen Song made official contact with the Free Northwestern Army of the North and joined up with the FNA. Song's first year or so with the FNA was rather lackluster, but that changed in 2286. Chen Song went on a wasteland expedition in 2286 and found Campbell Armory with its ghoulified inhabitants. Since discovering Campbell Armory, Song has lived between there and Chinatown. The people of Chinatown tolerate Song since they see him as mostly harmless. Gun Runners The Gun Runners have little in the way of established relations with Chinatown, as the community still sees the arms dealers occupying the New Order’s former HQ as “scary” to say the least. Dale Willis hopes to clear up this misunderstandings soon. King's Council Chinatown's relations with the raiders of King's Council has been up and down over the years. Being raiders, King's Council get little respect from the the inhabitants of Chinatown, but they do have past positive relations to an extent. The raiders of King County International Airport assisted Chinatown in fighting the New Order and never really gave the community too much trouble. For the most part, Chinatown and King's Council have an understanding not to mess with each other. New California Republic NCR is very faraway from Seattle, but Chinatown still does trade with them through intermediaries. Chinatown has a generally positive attitude towards the Bear, though the community obviously would rather remain its own entity rather than joining a larger federation or state. New Order The New Order and Chinatown have foul history as the two fought each other for the better part of a century. Footsoldiers of the New Order terrified Chinatown for generations, and the memory of them and their ideal of white supremacy has horrified the community for years since. That fear has been so strong that Chinatown is reluctant to trade with the Gun Runners centered where the New Order used to be. Pantheon Radio Pantheon Radio and Chinatown have storied histories that connect in interesting ways. Both entities respect each other, and Chinatown even has its own reporter for the radio due to its close connection. The people of Chinatown are aware of Martha's Gulch but do not actively trade with Pantheon Radio or Atlas Guard there. Points of Interest Blue Heaven Blue Heaven has been a part of Chinatown for almost as long as the community has existed, whether the residents like it or not. Originally founded in the 1920s in the basement space of the Louisa Hotel on Maynard Alley South, just south of South King Street, Blue Heaven operated an illegal club that attracted visitors for the gambling, dancing, and other forms of entertainment. The club has operated uninterrupted, except briefly after a shooting in the 1980s and the Great War, for the last two hundred years. The business has emerged from the shadows after the war and changed hands numerous times, but its services remain largely the same. It’s current owner, Syaoran Wu, has Blue Heaven mostly cater to caravaners and outsiders, since that brings the most caps his way. That has brought both the moralists and traditionalists down on Blue Heaven, though the caps have continued to roll in uninterrupted so far. Chinatown Church of the New Disciples Established in the 2250s, the Chinatown Church of the New Disciples came at a time when the community was more accepting of outside influences. The New Disciples came to Chinatown from Yakima with the intention of converting the populace and found the town’s Filipino community already “cultural Catholics” ripe for conversion. As outsiders, the Disciple missionaries were initially met with fierce resistance by those seeing them as threats to Chinatown’s culture. The Chinatown Church of the New Disciples has mostly assimilated to Chinatown though, with its pastor Crisanto Sanchez becoming something of a moral guardian who campaigns alongside those who uphold the community’s culture laws. Chinatown Gate An iconic part of the community, the Chinatown Gate marks the western entrance into Chinatown from the rest of the ruins of Seattle. The gate, a modern Paifang archway, was installed in 1990s and became an instant fixture of the neighborhood. The community had to fight to keep the gate before the war against racist mobs intent on destroying it and after the war against Skull-Taker and the raider scum that followed him. Today, the Chinatown Gate continues to stand proudly as an important cultural artifact and a symbol of the community’s perseverance through seemingly impossible odds. East Kong Yick Building The East Kong Yick Building was created before the Great War by the pooled resources of one hundred seventy Chinese-American pioneers, also known as the Kong Yick Investment Company. The building housed various business before the war but fell in disuse in the late 2060s. It was only really put back to use in 2264 by the Oriental Caravan Company. Since then, the building has become a hub of activity as caravaners, merchants, and bounty hunters pass through its halls going about their own business. The East Kong Yick Building has once again become an integral part of Chinatown's community though some have become rather suspicious of the building and caravan’s owner. Nippon Kan Theatre The Nippon Kan Theatre is seen as an important part of the Japanese-American community in Chinatown, but little was been done to maintain the old building even before the Great War. Originally built in 1909 as a hotel and later converted, the Nippon Kan Theatre was first closed in 1942 during the Japanese-American internment, but reopened in 1981 through restorative efforts. After that, the building's use ebbed and flowed according to Seattle's Japanese population right up until the Great War. The building fell into disuse after the Great War but was often used as place of assembly for many in Chinatown's Japanese community. It only returned to its function as a theater in 2277 when the building was bought by Lao. Lao was a local businessman who wanted to preserve Chinatown's cultural heritage. However, that was not very successful as a business model and also Lao found it hard to get the Japanese community involved. The theater only acted as a theater a couple times before Lao sold the building on the cheap to Emily Tanaka, a former caravaner in 2287. Currently, Emily is mulling over her options of what to do with the Nippon Kan Theatre, whether to look back to its past as a theater or forward to the future with another more profitable role for the building. Panama Hotel The Panama Hotel is a large residential building within Chinatown. A historic hotel with brick facade dating from 1910 offering rooms with shared baths, plus a teahouse, the Panama Hotel was best remembered before the war for holding the possessions of interned Japanese-American families during WWII. Most of those families never came back for their possessions, and the later owners never removed them from the motel’s basement. That came in handy when people took refuge in the Panama Hotel after the Great War. As time went on, the Panama Hotel became something of a major residential building in Chinatown. The Panama Hotel, currently owned by Jade who recently bought and renovated it, acts as a sort of an apartment building for those with permanent residence in Chinatown. As per Chinatown’s laws, this excludes all outsiders besides spouses and children of residents though Jade has been known to skirt this law on several occasions. The residents of the Panama Hotel are mostly characterized as less than reputable with notable examples being Jialong Zhou and Chen Song. Jade hopes to class up the joint though by telling the Japanese baths in the future, though this is still in the works. Uwajimaya Village Originally a Japanese family supermarket, Uwajimaya Village was transformed post-War into a center of commerce within Chinatown’s community. An important holdout position when Skull-Taker razed large parts of Chinatown, it in Uwajimaya Village that many people lived in the years after the Great War. Over time, people migrated back into the ruins, and Uwajimaya Village became less of a living space and more of a marketplace. Today, it serves as major vein for commerce inside and outside of Chinatown. Outsiders and residents mingle within the walls of the old supermarket, buying and selling just about everything. Notable Inhabitants Colonel Chen Song Colonel Chen Song is a failed artist and an amateur philosopher who is now an officer in the Free Northwestern Army due to his recent accomplishments. Descended from Chinese-Americans, Chen hopes to bring democracy back to the wasteland and sees the FNA as a way of doing that. He is seen as bit of an oddball by the people of Chinatown who do not really take him seriously, but Chen poses more of a threat now that he has the loyalty of the ghouls of Campbell Armory. Chen Song was born in 2267 to two doting parents. Pastor Crisanto Sanchez Pastor Crisanto Sanchez is a Disciple preacher and a prominent member of Chinatown's Filipino community. He has been seen as a moral force within Chinatown for the last couple years with a rather unique relationship with the community's traditionalists. Crisanto Sanchez was born in 2229 to a highly religious mother named Analyn and a less than respectable father named Severino. Delun Cao Delun Cao is the leader of the most prominent militia in Chinatown, the Painted Dragons, and is something of a military leader within the community when needed. A traditionalist through and through, Delun Cao keeps a close eye on the community to keep its culture and traditions alive for generations to come. Delun Cao was born in 2247 to two well to do parents who ran a malt shop. Emily Tanaka Emily Tanaka is a former caravaner for the Oriental Caravan Company and the newly minted proprietor of the Nippon Kan Theatre, a major cultural artifact of Chinatown's Japanese community. She was reluctant to buy the theater after leaving her caravan outfit, but Emily did so under much duress and is looking for good use for the building whether it involves the original use or not. Emily Tanaka was born to Yu Tanaka and Rachel Pollen in 2262. Jade Jade is a wealthy women who supposedly made her fortune in the Oregon Brushfire Wars and as a shareholder in the Oriental Caravan Company. In reality, Jade is a chem kingpin who has her claws deep in Chinatown, the rest of Seattle, and even farther out in other parts of Cascadia. Jade was born Jia He in 2247 to parents of Taiwanese heritage in Chinatown. Jialong Zhou Jialong Zhou is a con man who originated from Chinatown but has mostly wandered the wastes until his return recently. He is seen as an outcast by most in Chinatown but is allowed to stay within the community due to the secret insistence of his family. Jialong has come and gone from Chinatown, but he is now back in the community, dealing in quick cons and underhanded jobs. Jialong Zhou was born in 2262 to Chen and Mai Zhou, owners of the Sleepy Dog Restaurant. Shuang Brown Shuang Brown is one of the most important caravaners in the Oriental Caravan Company and has a much more progressive view of the future than most in Chinatown, mostly due to his family's mixed origins and his time spent outside the community. Brown is not actively political but has increasingly been put on the spot by Chinatown's political elements which is slowly changing his mind. Shuang Brown was born outside Chinatown in 2256 to caravaners from the community. Sun Kang Sun Kang is a ghoul and one of the last remaining survivors of The Tongmeng. Even though he worked for the Chinese Communist government before the war, Sun Kang has been welcomed into Chinatown over time as his pre-War loyalties have been forgotten. Kang has grown ornery in his old age and is not shy about revealing his opinions on things to the residents of Chinatown. Sun Kang was born in 2055 to loving parents in the city of Nanning, China. Syaoran Wu Syaoran Wu is the proprietor of Blue Heaven and a less reputable member of Chinatown's community, though that does not mean he cannot be congenial. Contrary to what his name may indicate, he is of mixed origins and was adopted by Chinese parents. Syaoran has much less of a sense of "community" than many others in Chinatown and delights in seeing the traditionalists squirm when given the opportunity. Born around 2226, it is unknown who either of Syaoran Wu's parents were. Quotes Category:Places Category:Communities Category:Cascadia